CHAPTER 34
You made me mope during the Christmas holidays, Severus! I think everyone noticed. Except for you, of course, because you were back at Hogwarts. Away from me.
[] [] []
Harry shut the lid of his trunk and shoved it underneath his bed with his foot. The portrait of Phineas Nigellus was currently an empty piece of canvas on the wall. There was another bed in the large room. Severus would have slept in it, he thought. His door was ajar; he could hear people arriving, greeting each other and going to their own rooms. He sat down on the bed and cupped his chin in his hands, brooding.
"Harry!" Hermione's clear voice interrupted his thoughts, followed by a familiar "Oy! Where are you, mate?"
Ron, impetuous as always, barged inside without knocking, but Harry didn't mind. He rose and spread his arms: the three friends hugged each other tightly.
"So, hubby is not joining the festivities?" Ron remarked, looking around the room, his blue eyes lingering on the empty bed. He sounded nonchalant, but Harry could sense his disapproval.
/No. He didn't give a reason. He actually told me before the Christmas holidays, but I was hoping he'd change his mind. Silly, right? Severus Snape wouldn't be Severus Snape if he changed his mind, but I just kept on hoping. I really should have known better./
"I guess what you hope for and what you expect can be different sometimes," Ron said wisely. Hermione patted Harry's back; like Ron, she regarded Harry as a younger brother.
"He's very proud," she remarked. "Rather too proud. But I think that will change one day. You've been married for only a few months, so he needs more time for you to rub off on him."
"Ah, you know what they say, 'Mione. Men marry women in the hope that they won't change, and women marry men in the hope that they'll be able to change them."
Hermione looked critical.
"While there is a grain of truth in many proverbs and statements on life, it's never good to generalise things."
/I have the impression that he thinks I need my own space and have to be around people whom I am close to by choice./
"As opposed to your, well, coerced marriage," Ron said, sitting down next to Harry.
"But it has become something else," Hermione said, unknowingly echoing Dumbledore's words during his conversation with Severus. Harry nodded.
/And since even owl post is becoming risky, given Hedwig's striking appearance, I don't know how to keep in touch with him. The Floo is barred, and I feel so stupid about breaking that two-way mirror Sirius gave me. It cannot be repaired. It's useless now, and I don't know where to get another pair, or if it's even possible./
Hermione sat down on Harry's other side.
"Maybe it's possible to make them on one's own, if one has the proper knowledge and skill. I'm quite sure a two-mirror has a modified Protean Charm."
"So you'd simply need two mirrors and a custom-tailored Protean Charm?" Ron said skeptically. "It can't be so easy. You put a lot of work into creating those fake Galleons for Dumbledore's Army."
/But it's the same principle,/ Harry said; then he thumped his knee with his fist. /Fuck, I miss him. Until we consummated our marriage, I would have given everything to never see him again. And now I want to see him again./
"Love will do that to people," Ron said. Harry looked at him, surprised.
/You're…not…er…disgusted?/
"I think it's quite safe to say that you've charmed your way into that rock of a heart he's got. For one thing, his grooming habits have improved, although his behaviour is still intolerable in class. For another, he actually invited Hermione and me to tea and played chess with me."
"You also seem quite happy now," Hermione observed.
"Sparkly eyes, glowing cheeks, sudden smiles…and now you're moping because he's not around," Ron teased him, nudging him in the ribs. Harry went red.
/I am not moping!/
"Oh, and that too," Hermione chirped, referring to his blushing; she conjured a Japanese fan and fanned Harry's face with it.
/Oy!/
Ron took the fan from her, studying it.
"Brilliant! Even the pattern is spot on," he said admiringly. It was Hermione's turn to blush.
[] [] []
Severus swore softly as he quadruple-checked his pockets for Harry's gift, knowing perfectly well that it was on his person but wanting to reassure himself of its presence repeatedly.
"Infuriating meddler," he grumbled, imagining the roguish smile on the Headmaster's wise face, but he was unable to exclude the affection from his surly tone. Over the years, a strong bond of love had grown between him and Dumbledore, and no arguments or disagreements had shaken that love so far. Severus was like a son to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore was the father Severus had never really had. And now, as he prepared himself and a large travelling bag for going down to Hogsmeade to take the heavily Aurored Knight Bus, he felt himself acknowledge the fact that love existed even for him; his cynical heart burrowed around in its cobwebbed corners and found a new thing: hope.
[] [] []
Christmas Eve was a merry time in spite of the increasingly dark times; all the Weasleys, with the exception of Percy, were present. Only Molly Weasley and Harry were somewhat subdued; the former because of Percy's cold-hearted behaviour, and the latter because of Severus's absence. They nevertheless made a huge effort to participate in the merriment, ignoring the occasional compassionate glances of the others.
Sunlight was yielding to dusk when the Weasley children and Harry finished decorating the enormous Christmas tree while a stream of blasphemous anathemas issued from the portrait of Sirius's mother. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks disappeared sometime during the first festive operations and reappeared looking somewhat dishevelled. Harry, however, noticed their glowing sated faces and bit his lip, trying to feel happy for them. The twins, too, smirked knowingly.
"Tonks is a howler-" Fred whispered confidentially to Harry, "and Remus is a growler," George finished his sentence. Harry's eyes bulged behind his glasses.
/Please don't tell me you've been spying on them with those Extendable Ears!/
"We're trying to add an Invisibility Charm to them, but it seems to diminish their hearing power," George murmured regretfully, "but you know us – we'll find a way."
/Can't you find a way which does not involve messing with people's bedroom lives?/ Harry said crossly.
"You don't have anything to worry about, Harrykins," Fred reassured him. Harry's face became sombre.
"Oh dear. That was the wrong thing to say, bro," George sighed, giving Harry a one-armed hug.
When Harry went up to his room for a quick wash after decorating the tree (Fred and George had enchanted some pinecones and snowballs to bounce off the tree-decorating committee), he sat down on the floor with the bedstead pressing into his back, missing Severus, longing for his abrasive humour and abrupt ways, his rare but genuine smiles, the intelligence and complexity of his personality reflected in those dark eyes. A familiar cough from the now no longer empty portrait on the wall made him raise his head, and Phineas Nigellus stared down at him.
/Oh! Hi. Sir,/ Harry said, startled.
"Not bad, communicating telepathically with a portrait. Impressive teaching by Severus Snape."
/Do you know how he is? Is he well?/
Phineas gave him a sly look.
"My, my! Someone is succumbing to tender feelings and chagrin d'amour."
/Is he well?/ Harry repeated, ignoring the taunt.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" the former Headmaster snickered, vanishing from the portrait. If he had been fifteen, Harry would have cursed, thrown something at the portrait and taken the taunt for what it was: a taunt, and nothing more. Now, however, he frowned, wondering if there was a message hidden in that last question. A gentle knock on his door distracted him, and he answered the signal. Remus and Tonks, now composed and no longer flushed, smiled at him.
"Someone wants to see you at once, Harry, and they'll be sharing your room until the end of the holidays," Remus announced, leaning against the doorframe.
"Who?"
Remus's smile was roguish, and Tonks's hair turned a magnificent orange shade.
"He's waiting for you downstairs, he just arrived with the Knight Bus with Kingsley and Alastor," Tonks said, winking at him.
A tingle spread throughout Harry's body; his hands suddenly became sweaty, his knees felt like rubber and he rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping in his haste.
The Potions Master was standing near the fireplace. The black eyes locked with the bright green ones and his hands were gripped by a pair of smaller ones.
/You changed your mind!/
"Yes."
/May I ask why?/
"No."
Harry laughed and threw his arms around his husband. Severus bashfully returned the embrace, wondering at the magic of a simple brachial encirclement.
Hermione, Ron, the twins and Ginny, who had been startled by the loud thumping of Harry's feet upon the stairs, peeked out of the kitchen.
"Blimey! Isn't that sweet?" George whispered, awed.
"Sweet? Sweet is for Honeydukes. It's bloody hot! Downright sexy!" his sister observed, craning her neck for a better view of the couple.
Ron blinked at her in astonishment while Hermione stifled a guffaw.
"Better get out the Extendable Eyes later tonight," Fred whispered.
"Extendable Eyes?" Hermione asked.
"The companion piece to our Extendable Ears," George explained.
"Oh no, you can't possibly...I mean...No way, that's a huge breach of privacy!" Hermione hissed.
Ginny's grin became wider – until Remus, noticing their inquisitive behaviour, entered the kitchen and discreetly closed the door behind him. The twins scowled, Ron looked thoughtful and the young witches amused.
[] [] []